I have a 1971 Chevelle Malibu sedan. The previous owner put a lo5 350 in it but left everything else original he says. So my transmission and rear end are stock. Looks like a 2 speed powerglide in there. My dilemma is that she looks like a muscle car...sounds like a muscle car...but accelerates like a granny car. Slow first gear, hard shift, and not much punch until you get in second gear around 30mph or so. She rolls on the highway at 70-80mph just fine and has good passing power at 60mph. What is the most cost effective way to get a little more pep in her from go? I dont race, its a daily driver. I just want a little more jump. Any suggestions?

A rear end gear change would probably do it a world of good. I'm guessing that you probably have a 3.08 or 2.73 gear. A change to a 3.42 or 3.55 , even a 3.73 if you don't get out of town much, would wake it up.

sounds like a plan. would I be ok putting re-gearing my rear end? any suggestions on good gears?

The job requires some special skills. You need to know how to set the pinion depth, bearing preload and backlash. You also need to know how to read the contact pattern so that you will know what adjustments need to be made to the pinion depth. I can get you the parts if you want to try it.