The 315 V8 is the last in a series of engines that started in 1954 for Dodge trucks with the 241ci V8. Moving up to 259ci (often called the 260) in 1955 and 269ci (often called a 270) in late 1956.

All of these motors look basically the same, as do several car motors of the same era (not all the same displacement). The only way I know how to tell them apart is by the engine numbers I have labeled below.

315ci V8s were used in Dodge trucks in 1957 and 1958, they are the same block as the 315 Hemi, but have different heads.

When I started to collect numbers from PGs, I believed the books I had read were correct, and so when I found a 58 W200 with a motor stamped L8 D3, I assumed it was a replacement motor. By the time I had found 7 58 W100s and W200s, as well as several D100s, D200s, and D300s with the same engine number stamped in them, I figured that Dodge had just decided to stamp all the motors L8 D3, and save on stamps or something. So far this has held true on every 57 or 58 V8 truck I have checked, all the 58s are stamped L8 D3, and all the 57s are stamped VT538.

If you have seen something different, please let me know! I have checked over 30 trucks, and so far every truck that looks like it has the original motor has these numbers stamped on them.